Air bags and Equalizer????
Wow....I feel like I have been the prodigal son.....first post on RV.NET since 2006. We have had 10 years of sabbatical from RV'ing. But we pick up our new camper in two weeks....and I am stoked!!!!...
Forum Discussion
brulaz wrote:Groover wrote:
I think that for clarity the weight distributing hitch should be adjusted to get the front bumper back to or slightly lower than where it is with the truck unloaded and no trailer.
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In the last decade or so, truck and hitch manufacturers have changed their recommendations on this. Now they say not to lower the front beyond the unloaded position at all with the WDH. It can negatively effect the steering. Ford says to reduce the front end lift by only 50%. So I figure reducing front end lift by anywhere between 50 and 100% is good, but no more.
I just looked it up and indeed the example in the 2017 towing manual on page 34 calls for only a 25% correction with the weight distributing hitch. http://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/
I cannot find anything of the sort in the 2016 manual and just have to wonder if this is a mistake. The only way to make the front go up is to have the center of the applied load behind the rear axle. I have never driven any vehicle with the load behind the rear axle that I thought drove worth a darn. It just makes me wonder if they are going to move the gooseneck and fifthwheel hitches to behind the rear axle now. What happens if you put 5 big people in there and load the truck up with all of the weight in the cab? Is that dangerous? I see that the 2017 Super Duties are rated for up to 2100 pounds on a weight carrying hitch. I would love to hear from someone that has tried it and how that turned out.
Part of my concern is that on 250's and down the front brakes are bigger than the rear ones. Offloading your main brakes does not seem like a good idea to me.
Personally I am going to stick with the method that I have been using successfully for 40 years now until I see something more convincing. You might as well not even bother with a load distributing hitch if you are only shooting for a 25% correction. The only thing that I can think of is that Ford is worried about breaking the front bolts on the hitch (or their attachment points) with more weight transfer to the front.
